Gabriel Paulista: he has the work permit, and the medical should be done by now.

By Tony (some of this might be right but dont bank on it) Attwood

Well, you know, I’m sure, but just in case not… Mr Wenger had the deal all set vis a vis the work permit and Gabriel Paulista will be granted a permit to work in the UK. Now he just needs to pass the medical.

Fortunately, we know that Arsenal have the funds, and there is no FFP issue, and we have a spare non-home-grown place on our list of 25, so as long as he doesn’t have a secret medical condition everything is tickety-boo. As they say.

He qualified for the work permit (which is granted by the FA on behalf of the Home Office who can’t be arsed with mucking about with foreign footballers) under the current regs as an exceptional talent. It would have been an absolute irony if he hadn’t since under the regulations which start in the next transfer window he would have qualified as all transfers over £10m will qualify under the new rules.

Quite possibly by the time you read this (or by the time I stop typing it) you will have heard that he has passed the medical and all is done. Technically he will be available to play on Sunday against Aston V.

I can’t imagine he’ll get a game next weekend, unless of course we are 3-0 up with 15 minutes to go.

So we are just about to have in the centre back position an extra player – alongside the recently refreshed Monreal who has (in my view) not just been playing better and better, but has been getting to grips with the centre of defence position better.

So there we are. We have got, since the start of this season… actually I am not going to put in the list, since I wrote Afobe instead of Akpom in the last piece. Time to retire from active writing.

I don’t know much about wine Tony. But, this is one of the best (non-icewine) wines in BC, Canada a year ago.

92 Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay Micro Cuvée Old Main Road Vineyard 2011
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $65.00
Old Main Road Vineyard is the source of the Micro Cuvee in 2011 a wine made only in vintages deemed worthy and only from the very best barrels in this case two puncheons. A clear jump up in intensity, the style is firm with vibrant acidity and a stony, mineral lean-ess that suggests it could age handsomely for years. The palate is a mix of hazelnuts, pears and leesy notes with bits of honey, citrus rind and a hint of tropical fruit. This wine needs time and food but will repay patience and bottle ageing. You can serve it now with halibut. (AG-ST)

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“People in love with football in this country, people must be in love with Eden Hazard,” Mourinho said. “The way, match after match, he’s being punished by opponents and he’s not being protected by referees, maybe one day we won’t have Eden Hazard. It’s one, two, three, four, five, 10 aggressive fouls against him. They kick and kick and kick, and the kid resists. He’s a very honest guy in the way he plays, but that’s another problem.”
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I agree with the sentiment – and yes Hazard should be protected – but Mourinho saying it makes no sense.

Be interesting to read the Ref prediction; I hope Taylor’s anti-Arsenal bias is somewhat mitigated by a “pro-home team” bias. He did us no favours at Leicester and then gave Chambers his 2nd yellow once we got back into the thick of things at Stoke.

The one good thing this weekend is that Walter is coming to the game with his wife and full back up of Belgian Gooners, hopefully that will be enough to counter Taylor’s evil. I’ll be doing the ref preview in a day or two, be with Tony in time for the buildup to the game.

Not sure if this has been asked before, but the mobile version of this site is always lagging behindby about two articles, why is that? It means anyone accessing the site using their phone, which I suspect is a lot of people, will be commenting on older articles when newer ones are up. That is unless they change the phone’s browser settings so they’re served the desktop version, which is what I do.

Tony,
What is it with these Belgians?
Long before the draw, Walter forecast we would meet Middlesboro and so it turned out.
Is he psychic? Or does he control the draw? Or do those who partake of Belgian chips, beer and chocolate have some ET effect on our nation of which the Government are keeping quiet.
We should be told.
ps
Walter, any tip for the Derby? 😉

Va Cong – better / safer bet 3+ yellow cards. Realistically I expect more goals from Arsenal. We have established a good system of defence & our midfield 0 attack is dynamic. We need power shots at goal plus the occasional pass into the net.